Who: Memphis Grizzlies (1-2) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (1-1)
When: Tuesday, October 14th, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
Watch and Listen: 92.9 FM
Discuss: 3SOB on Twitter / 3SOB Forum
Photo: USA Today Sports
The Scoop:
The last time the Grizzlies walked off the floor at Chesapeake Energy Arena, they were defeated in Game 7 and were headed back to Memphis. Five months later, they are going to be back on that court against a different looking Oklahoma City Thunder squad.
Cameron Symlar:
Memphis looked like the team we know in Saturday’s 93-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Mike Conley led the team with 23 points and Marc Gasol finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Courtney Lee and Tony Allen didn’t play because of minor bumps and bruises, but the rest of the Grizzlies rotation logged regular minutes. The biggest takeaway from Saturday night’s game was the debut of Vince Carter. He played 13 minutes and finished with 9 points including 2-3 from long range. That is the type of scoring the Grizzlies will need from him this season if they want to contend in the tough Western Conference. It will be interesting to see if Coach Joerger starts a lineup that we could see in the regular season like he did in the first two preseason games. We’ve seen Tony Allen, Quincy Pondexter, Tayshaun Prince, and Courtney Lee all start in the preseason so far. This was a big topic in the offseason and we are starting to see what starting lineups produce the most. Expect more mixing and matching with the SG and SF positions in the last few preseason games.
Oklahoma City got the worst possible news on Sunday. Their superstar and leader Kevin Durant has a Jones fracture in his right foot and will be out 6-8 weeks. He is the key to their team and offense and they will now use the preseason to figure how to play without him. This is Russell Westbrook’s time to show the league how he can run the team without Durant. He has taken a lot of criticism around the league about shot taking and decision making. Over the next 8 weeks, he has a chance to quiet his critics. No player alone on the Thunder’s roster can produce like Kevin Durant so they have a tough decision on who to start in his absence. The Grizzlies will get a first look at his replacement tonight. Reggie Jackson, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison are also out for the Thunder with injuries, so their rotation will look a little different than what the Grizzlies saw in the playoffs last season.
Steve Danziger:
Memphis looks to even the ledger on its preseason record to start out the 2014-15 season with a half-hearted avenging of last summer’s elimination against Oklahoma City. Saturday’s game provided us some dynamite showings from Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, the debut of Vince Carter in Beale St. Blue, and 2 more steals added to Jordan Adams’s bank of them. I still can’t be sold that preseason matters all that much, but it is definitely a plus for the guys to establish some positive steam to ride into the regular season, even if just for their own peace of mind.
Oklahoma City got the better of Memphis in the playoffs last season as Kevin Durant and company finally found ways to relieve themselves of the clutches of The Grindfather as the series wore on. No KD in this one, or for quite some time for that matter, which in a total sense is absolutely bad news for the league, but what it does mean is that it’s at long last acceptable for Russell Westbrook to do what he does best: raise hell in whichever way he pleases. Though that also means that defenses will be focusing more attention his way (read: Allen, Tony). If you need anything else to get you out of bed for this game, I leave you with this…
